1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor fabrication apparatus such as semiconductor exposure apparatus etc. using a so-called standard mechanical interface system (SMIF system), for example, which supplies and retrieves substrates by use of an openable/closable container (pod) capable of keeping clean a cassette containing substrates such as semiconductor wafers, reticles, or the like, a pod carry apparatus, a pod carry method, and a semiconductor device production method.
2. Related Background Art
In conventional semiconductor fabrication processes, particularly, in the photolithography process, the substrates such as the semiconductor wafers or the like have been processed heretofore in a clean room controlled in the cleanliness level of dust of the submicron order, which could cause semiconductor device/element defects, in order to increase the yield. Since high integration of semiconductor devices and elements and micropatterning of circuitry is already in an advanced stage nowadays, it is not easy in terms of technology and cost to realize the clean room under control of the level of dust of small particle sizes according thereto.
As an alternative to increase in the cleanliness level of the clean room, the SMIF systems enabling clean carry of substrates have been proposed in such layout that a cassette or the like containing substrates is set in an openable/closable pod kept clean inside and that an opening/closing mechanism of this pod is installed in semiconductor fabrication equipment, for example as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,532,970, 4,534,389, 4,616,683, and so on.
For example, the system illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B was developed as an SMIF system for transfer of reticles in semiconductor exposure equipment.
This system is provided with an opening/closing mechanism (SMIF indexer) 103 for opening/closing an SMIF pod 102 and moving a reticle carrier (cassette) 102a stored therein, up and down to withdraw the carrier out of the pod 102, a fork-shaped hand 104 for taking a reticle 102b out of the cassette 102a drawn pinto the semiconductor exposure apparatus 101 by the SMIF indexer 103, and a carrying mechanism 105 for moving the hand 104 back and forth and up and down relative to the cassette 102a to take the reticle 102b out and carry the reticle to a pre-alignment stage not illustrated. In order to prevent contamination of the reticle 102b carried by the carrying mechanism 105 and reduce the time necessary for replacement of reticles 102b, the height during the draw of the reticle 102b out of the cassette 102a is approximately matched with the height during the carry of the reticle 102b to the pre-alignment stage, thereby decreasing the length of the carry path.
For this reason. a pod mount surface T1 of the SMIF indexer 103 is located a little above a reticle carry surface T2, which is equal to the height during the draw of the reticle. Since the height of the reticle carry surface T2 is set to be approximately equal to the height of the reticle stage of the exposure apparatus, it is 1400 mm or higher from the floor surface.
In the above prior art, however, since the pod mount surface is higher than 1400 mm from the floor surface as described above, it is not easy for an operator to replace the pods, and It is not easy to supply and retrieve the pods by use of an automatic guided vehicle (AGV) of a floor running type which runs on the floor surface, either. As a consequence, it is essential to use an AGV of a ceiling-track running type which runs on a track hanging down from the ceiling of the clean room. This increases the facility cost and also increases constraints on the layout.
On the other hand, when the position of the SMIF indexer is set at the height of 800 to 1100 mm in order to be ready for the pod replacement by the operator and for the AGV of the floor running type, the distance is increased considerably for the carry of the reticle in the chamber for controlling the environment in the semiconductor fabrication equipment in a clean state. This raises the possibility that dust from the carry mechanism contaminates the clean environment in the chamber and the reticle. Conceivable means for preventing this are extensive countermeasures against production of dust: for example, the reticle drawn is again set in another cassette with a cap and then is transported, the driving section is combined with a rotary arm to suppress production of dust, and so on.
When a plurality of reticles are stored in the pod, the above method has the drawback of increasing the time necessary for the reticle replacement.
A further structural problem of the SMIF system is that the system is allowed to be equipped with only about two or three SMIF indexers and thus there still remains an issue of necessity for frequent pod replacement.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the problems in the prior art as described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor fabrication apparatus, a pod carry apparatus, a pod carry method, and a semiconductor device production method capable of facilitating the pod replacement work by the operator or by the AGV of the floor running type in the semiconductor fabrication apparatus such as the semiconductor exposure. apparatus or the like using the SMIF system and capable of remarkably reducing the time necessary for the pod replacement by juxtaposition of a pod storage rack for storing a plurality of pods.
In a semiconductor,fabrication apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention, a substrate is carried by use of a pod in which a cassette containing the substrate is set,
the semiconductor fabrication apparatus comprising:
first pod carry means for carrying said pod in a substantially vertical direction between a first height position and a second height position higher than said first height position; and
second pod carry means for carrying said pod substantially at said second height position in a substantially horizontal direction between said first pod carry means and pod opening/closing means disposed at a chamber for controlling environment in the semiconductor fabrication apparatus.
The semiconductor fabrication apparatus according to a further aspect of the present invention carries the substrate by a Standardized Mechanical Interface system.
The semiconductor fabrication apparatus according to a further aspect of the present invention further comprises a pod standby stage for keeping said pod standing by substantially at said second height position.
In the semiconductor fabrication apparatus according to a further aspect of the present invention, said pod standby stage comprises a transfer mechanist for transferring said pod.
In the semiconductor fabrication apparatus according to a further aspect of the present invention, said first pod carry means comprises a pod carry stage having a transfer mechanism for transferring said pod.
The semiconductor fabrication apparatus according to a further aspect of the present invention further comprises a pod storage rack for storing a plurality of pods, said pod storage rack being located near said first pod carry means.
In the semiconductor fabrication apparatus according to a further aspect of the present invention, said substrate is a reticle.
In the semiconductor fabrication apparatus according to a further aspect of the present invention, said first height position is in the range of 800 mm to 1100 mm from a floor surface.
In the semiconductor fabrication apparatus according to a further aspect of the present invention, said second height position is not less than 1400 mm from a floor surface.
In a pod carry apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, a substrate set in a pod is carried by a Standardized Mechanical Interface system, the pod carry apparatus comprising:
first pod carry means for carrying said pod in a substantially vertical direction between a first height position and a second height position higher than said first height position; and
second pod carry means for carrying said pod substantially at said second height position in a substantially horizontal direction between said first pod carry means and pod opening/closing means disposed at a chamber for controlling environment in a semiconductor fabrication apparatus.
In a pod carry method according to one aspect of the present invention, a substrate set in a pod is carried by a Standardized Mechanical Interface system, the pod carry method comprising:
a step of carrying said pod in a substantially vertical direction between a first height position and a second height position higher than said first height position by first pod carry means; and
a step of carrying said pod substantially at said second height position in a substantially horizontal direction between said first pod carry means and pod opening/closing means provided at a chamber for controlling environment in a semiconductor fabrication apparatus, by second pod carry means.
A semiconductor device production method according to one aspect of the present invention makes use of the above-described semiconductor fabrication apparatus according to the present invention.
Still other objects of the present invention and the advantages thereof will become fully apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments.
In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a semiconductor fabrication apparatus in which a pod that receives a single substrate using a substrate supporting table and a lid member in a sealing state is loaded from outside of a chamber and the pod is opened within the chamber so as to enable the substrate received in the pod to be held and managed, and said apparatus comprises a first pod conveyance device that transfers said pod from a pod loading position to a pod opening position, a pod opening device that causes the lid member of the pod transferred by said first pod conveyance device to be left outside the chamber and causes the supporting table to be separated into the chamber from said pod, a substrate storage rack provided within said chamber, said substrate storage rack capable of storing a plurality of substrates, and a substrate carrying device provided within said chamber for taking out the substrate on the substrate supporting table and putting the substrate into said substrate storage rack.
In still another aspect of the invention, there is provided A semiconductor fabrication apparatus in which a pod that receives a single substrate using a substrate supporting table and a lid member in a sealing state is loaded from outside of a chamber and the pod is opened within the chamber so as to enable the substrate received in the pod to be held and managed, and said apparatus comprises a first pod conveyance device that transfers said pod from a pod loading position to a pod opening position, a plurality of pod opening devices that cause the lid member of the pod transferred by said first pod conveyance device to be left outside the chamber and cause the supporting table to be separated into the chamber from said pod, a substrate storage rack provided within said chamber, said substrate storage rack capable of storing a plurality of substrates, a substrate carrying device provided within said chamber for taking out the substrate on the substrate supporting table and putting the substrate into said substrate storage rack, and a console device that executes table management for each pod ID of a plurality of pods disposed on said pod opening device and each shelf ID of a plurality of shelves allocated to said substrate storage rack.
In still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a semiconductor fabrication apparatus in which a pod that receives a single substrate using a substrate supporting table and a lid member in a sealing state is loaded from outside of a chamber and the pod is opened within the chamber so as to enable the substrate received in the pod to be held and managed, and said apparatus comprises a second pod conveyance device that allows said pod to be loaded and transfer said pod to a position at which said pod is delivered, a first pod conveyance device that receives said pod transferred by said second pod conveyance device at the delivered position and transfers said pod to a pod opening position, a pod opening device that causes the lid member of the pod transferred by said first pod conveyance device to be left outside the chamber and causes the supporting table to be separated into the chamber from said pod, a substrate storage rack provided within said chamber, said substrate storage rack capable of storing a plurality of substrates, and a substrate carrying device provided within said chamber for taking out the substrate on the substrate supporting table and putting the substrate into said substrate storage rack.
In still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a semiconductor fabrication apparatus in which a pod that receives a single substrate using a substrate supporting table and a lid member in a sealing state is loaded from outside of a chamber and the pod is opened within the chamber so as to enable the substrate received in the pod to be held and managed, and said apparatus comprises a second pod conveyance device that allows said pod to be loaded and transfer said pod to a position at which said pod is delivered, a first pod conveyance device that receives said pod transferred by said second pod conveyance device at the delivered position and transfers said pod to a pod opening position, a pod opening device that causes the lid member of the pod transferred by said first pod conveyance device to be left outside the chamber and causes the supporting table to be separated into the chamber from said pod, a substrate storage rack provided within said chamber, said substrate storage rack capable of storing a plurality of substrates, a substrate carrying device provided within said chamber for taking out the substrate on the substrate supporting table and putting the substrate into said substrate storage rack, and a console device that executes table management for each pod ID of a plurality of pods disposed on said pod opening device and each shelf ID of a plurality of shelves allocated to said substrate storage rack.
In still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a semiconductor fabrication apparatus in which a pod that receives a single substrate using a substrate supporting table and a lid member in a sealing state is loaded from outside of a chamber and the pod is opened within the chamber so as to enable the substrate received in the pod to be held and managed, and said apparatus comprises a first pod conveyance device that transfers said pod from a pod loading position to a pod opening position, a plurality of pod opening devices that cause the lid member of the pod transferred by said first pod conveyance device to be left outside the chamber and cause the supporting table to be separated into the chamber from said pod, a substrate storage rack provided within said chamber, said substrate storage rack capable of storing a plurality of substrates, a substrate carrying device provided within said chamber for taking out the substrate on the substrate supporting table and putting the substrate into said substrate storage rack, a pod storage device capable of storing a plurality of pods in shelves, and a console device that executes table management for each shelf ID of a plurality of shelves allocated to said pod storage device, each pod ID of a plurality of pods stocked in the shelves of said pod storage device and each shelf ID of a plurality of shelves allocated to said substrate storage rack.